


It Could be a Prayer

by Zoelily



Series: The Prayer Verse [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M, Pining, Prayer, Season/Series 11
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-01
Updated: 2015-11-01
Packaged: 2018-04-29 11:18:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5125508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoelily/pseuds/Zoelily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While Dean and Sam are recovering after a case and Cas is searching for Metatron, Dean muses on his feelings for Cas, and the angel hears.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Could be a Prayer

**Author's Note:**

> This is unbeta'd, so any mistakes are mine.

It could be a prayer; or possibly just an intense dream. With any other human it’s easy to tell the difference, but nothing is ever simple when it comes to Dean Winchester. Castiel struggles to filter out the white noise of the host to focus on the thoughts of the man that consumes so much of his attention. He shakes his head to attempt to clear his mind, a human habit picked up from years with the Winchesters, and collapses gracefully to his knees.

The passage of time is unimportant when you measure your lifetime in millennia, so Castiel isn’t sure how long he’s been kneeling in a dusty fairground, just outside of a small town in Anywhere, USA. It could be minutes or days since the last promising prayer from Dean so it jars Castiel when he hears it again. It’s clearly a prayer this time, but not for Castiel to come fluttering to whatever seedy motel Dean and Sam are holed up in this week (not that he could right now), for some reason this seems more personal.

Castiel stands slowly, brushing the caking dust of his pant legs and stares up to heaven as he listens…

~~~

Dean flops facedown on the furthest bed in room 14 of the Tall Pines Inn. His wrists ache, there’s a twinge in his lower back, and he’s sure the yellowed sheets underneath him will be stained with dark red. The nest of vamps in this tiny town in Colorado had put up one hell of a fight. He hears the familiar clunk of water pipes that have seen better days as Sam starts the shower. They’re getting too old for this, Dean speculates; his body protests a lot more from swinging a machete than it used to.

Shifting to his side to ease the soreness, Dean lifts his right wrist and twists it around, feeling the pop of the tendons and the relief of the stiffness already starting to settle in the bones. He can’t wait to get back to the bunker, his own bed, some decent water pressure. He wonders if Cas has made it back yet. A few days of pointless tv and intermittent researching had finally caught up with the angel. Unused to feeling purposeless, Cas had jumped on the first lead on the Continental and hopped the bus to some small Midwestern town that Dean couldn’t even remember the name of right now. Dean rolls onto his back with a groan.

_I sure hope you’re safe, Cas._

~~~

Castiel can almost feel the tentativeness in in Dean’s musings. He shoves his hands deep into the pockets of his trench coat and focuses. Something tells him this is important. The clear sky is just shading to twilight; a few stars just starting to blink into existence. Castiel has witnessed the birth of many of these stars but yet that seems irrelevant right now as he listens to a mere human man’s innermost thoughts.

~~~

_I kind of miss how you were able to just pop in and out when we needed you, Cas. Now, you’re off somewhere tracking down Metadouche and I can’t just pray for you to get your feathery ass over here to make sure you’re ok. I mean, I could call or text, but does it make me sound like a chick to want to see it with my own two eyes after everything you’ve been through these past few weeks?_

Dean hears the shower stop, so he pulls himself up and sits on the side of the saggy mattress. Not wanting his brother to question what’s eating at him with his melancholy mood, he figures some air might do him good. Exiting the motel room, Dean lowers himself down to sit on the steps and looks up at the star filled sky.

_That spell scared the shit outta me, Cas!_

Dean rubs his face, not sure why this is all coming to the surface now. Maybe it’s because Cas isn’t here to stare him in the eyes while he acts like a damn girl.

_You know, with all the crap we’ve seen, and all the times we’ve been messed up, you’d think I’d be used to it, but seeing you on that ground, not sure if you were coming out of it this time, I dunno man, that did it for me. It hasn’t been long enough since the mark, right? I can still see you lying there on the bunker floor, covered in blood and bruises by my hand, Cas. I’m not sure I can forgive myself for that. Why do you think I couldn’t let you heal me after Rowena broke the spell? I deserved that shit. What I did to you? There’s no way to make that even. Then there you are, looking like you might not wake up no matter how much I shook you._

Dean could feel the fear seep into his bones again at the memory.

_I can’t lose you. Not now. Not when…_

~~~

Castiel shudders a little as he listens to his friend’s prayer. He knows the guilt Dean feels. He’s felt it himself. Such a human emotion, but one Castiel is far too familiar with after the messes he’s made and the far reaching consequences of those lapses in judgement. But that’s not what has Castiel on edge. He feels like Dean is just on the precipice of something, something that could change things, and he’s equal parts curious, terrified, and a little bit eager to hear what Dean is thinking.

After a slight pause, there’s more…

~~~

Dean gets up, stares out at the deserted parking lot and tries to work out exactly what comes next.

_Fuck, Cas. This has been a long time coming don’t ya think? When did it all start to shift into more? I fucking miss you, alright! I’m not sure what to do with it but I realized when I thought I might lose you for real this time that I can’t do this without you. You and me and Sammy, we’re a team; Team Free Will, remember? Thing is, you and me, we have that ‘profound bond’ you’re always talking about, and it means something. I didn’t get it before, but I’m starting to get it now._

Dean lets out a heavy sigh, tinged with hope, and not a small amount of fear, that maybe Cas is actually listening.

_I guess we need to talk. I mean, really talk. You know how I love those chick flick moments._

A small smile tugs at Deans lips as he imagines curled up on the shitty couch in the bunker trying to start this conversation with a socially awkward angel.

_Maybe we could actually go out, like on a date or something. You know, like normal people do. Get a burger, see a movie, maybe hold hands in the back._

Dean can feel his heart skip a little as he thinks of where that could lead. Yeah, he wants that. God he didn’t realize how much he wants that. He can only hope Cas does too.

~~~

Castiel stands in a dusty fairground just outside of a small town in Anywhere, USA, with a giant gummy grin on his usually stoic face. He quickly calculates how long it will take to get back to Kansas on the bus. He has a prayer to answer and a date to look forward to.


End file.
